Two sides in opposing predicaments. Lens are fighting for a place in the Europa League, and having to play all the title challengers in quick succession has seen Marseille sneak ahead of them, whereas Bordeaux are having to fight just to remain in Ligue 1, still not safe from that final relegation spot.
Franck Haise made three changes to the side that lost the Derby du Nord to Lille. The suspended Clément Michelin was replaced by Ismaël Boura, Steven Fortes returned to the bench in favour of Facundo Medina, while midfielder Yannick Cahuzac made way for striker Simon Banza as Lens returned to their usual 3-4-1-2 formation.
After getting thrashed by relegation rivals Nantes, Jean-Louis Gasset switched to a 3-5-2 shape, making three changes. In came Paul Baysse, Maxime Poundjé and Nicolas de Préville for Mexer, Mehdi Zerkane and Sékou Mara.
Lens had full control over the early stages of the match. Their shape lined up perfectly against Bordeaux’s defensively, with Gaël Kakuta sticking to Tom Lacoux and Seko Fofana and Cheick Doucouré on Yacine Adli and Toma Basic, then, when Lens pressed, Kakuta would push up alongside Ignatius Ganago and Banza to go three-on-three with Bordeaux’s centre-backs while the midfielders pushed up to cover behind them.
Thanks to adjustments by Lens, Bordeaux’s shape didn’t line up well the other way though. Doucouré stayed central at the base of the midfield, Fofana pushed forward to his left, Kakuta roamed and Banza kept dropping into midfield. This meant that, rather than taking up their nominal positions, one Bordeaux midfielder would be pulled forward onto Doucouré, one would be pushed back with Fofana and the other would either be dragged out of position by Kakuta, leaving space for Banza, or stay in position and leave Kakuta free. Lens were repeatedly able to play through the midfield, spread the ball out to the wing-backs and cross.
Bordeaux were offering very little going forward, usually trying to hit long balls in behind towards the forwards that Lens could easily mop up.
Yet it was the home side who took the lead. De Préville dropped off to receive a pass from Enock Kwateng, dribbled past Medina and passed into Basic, who span on the ball and tried to lift it over Jonathan Clauss, only for the wing-back to stop it with his hands. Hwang Ui-jo tucked away the resulting penalty.
Having taken the lead, Bordeaux were now able to sit back, and a lot of their defensive issues faded away. The forwards blocked the passes into the midfield, with Hwang paying particular attention to Doucouré, which meant the midfielders could generally hold their positions and protect the defence. Lens were still able to play forward into attack thanks to all three of their centre-backs being willing to carry the ball into the opposition half, but they weren’t able to open up the same gaps as before, with Bordeaux getting a lot of men back to defend.
Much like their meeting with Brest, the match became about whether or not Lens could break down Bordeaux’s packed defence. On 60 minutes, Haise switched to a 4-3-3, bringing on forwards Corentin Jean and Arnaud Kalimuendo for Banza and Medina to flank Ganago.
Lens were unable to make a breakthrough though and Bordeaux secured their win with minutes left to go. First Youssouf Sabaly won the second ball from a free-kick, dribbled past three players and poked the ball past Jean-Louis Leca, then Bordeaux caught Lens on the counter, Mara squirming the ball past substitute Cheick Traoré and Loïc Badé then poking it in behind for Zerkane to finish.
After not losing since January, Lens have now lost three on the trot. There is no shame in losing to title challengers Paris Saint-Germain and Lille, but this match was expected to be the winnable one in a tough run-in.
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